The Dynamics of the Diversified Corporation and the Role of Central Management of Technology

This paper discusses 1) the generic forces that drive the evolution of diversified industrial corporations and their implications for the corporate technology base, 2) the changing role of the central R&D lab in the context of these forces, and 3) the role of management of technology in promoting dynamic coherence in diversified - and highly decentralized - corporations. The line of argument in the paper is illustrated by an indepth case-study of Danfoss, a Danish multi-divisional corporation operating within mechatronical markets.